Rusty Egan

Rusty Egan

Rusty Egan is a London-born British drummer, DJ and record producer associated with new wave, synthpop and electronic music. Born in 1957, he first comes to prominence as the drummer for The Rich Kids, the British new wave band formed in March 1977 by Glen Matlock, with Steve New and Midge Ure, and active until December 1978. He continues to work with Midge Ure afterwards and later collaborates with acts including The Misfits, The Skids, Shock and Visage.

Blitz and the New Romantic scene

Egan becomes a central figure in London nightlife as the DJ at Blitz, the influential New Romantic nightclub, where he works with Steve Strange from 1979 to 1981. In that role he introduces British club audiences to German, Japanese and UK electronic music, including Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Eno, Ultravox and Landscape, and helps shape the soundtrack associated with the New Romantic movement. He also owns The Cage, a New Romantic record shop on King’s Road in London.

Production, clubs and later work

In 1982, Egan opens the Camden Palace nightclub in London and continues to promote electronic music there. He later produces records for artists and groups he has previously DJed, including Spear of Destiny, Shock, Visage and The Senate. He returns to disc jockey work again through the internet as a way of sharing music, and at one point works as a DJ at Boujis in London, playing and promoting 1980s-style synthpop and electronica.

Related appearances and recognition

Egan does not return to Visage for the group’s reunion at the end of the 1990s. He appears as a DJ at the Big Top at the Isle of Wight Festival in June 2008, and appears with Steve Strange on the television makeover show Pop Goes the Band in early 2009. He receives the lifetime achievement category at the 2009 London Club and Bar Awards.